The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) has reached the Round of 16, bringing together 16 teams in a quest for supremacy in Cote d’Ivoire.

The upcoming four days promise football thrills and drama as teams battle for coveted spots in the quarterfinals. Here’s a breakdown of the exciting matchups:

1. Angola vs. Namibia Angola, topping their group, faces Namibia, making it past the group stage for the first time. The clash promises determination and history on the pitch.

2. Nigeria vs. Cameroon Two giants of African football, Nigeria and Cameroon, collide in a battle of eight AFCON titles. A historic rivalry unfolds with both sides eyeing a spot in the quarterfinals.

3. Equatorial Guinea vs. Guinea Dark horse Equatorial Guinea meets consistent quarterfinal contenders Guinea. The best-attacking team, Equatorial Guinea, faces Guinea’s solid tournament history in a thrilling encounter.

4. Egypt vs. DR Congo Despite struggles, seven-time champions Egypt remain favorites against two-time winners DR Congo. The absence of Mo Salah adds unpredictability to this clash, with Egypt’s legacy on the line.

5. Cape Verde vs. Mauritania Impressive Cape Verde faces Mauritania in a winnable clash. Cape Verde aims to match their 2013 quarterfinal run, while underdog Mauritania seeks to continue their fairy-tale journey.

6. Senegal vs. Cote d’Ivoire Defending champions Senegal, with a perfect group stage record, face hosts Cote d’Ivoire. Senegal navigates a potential stumbling block against a determined Ivorian side and their football-mad public.

7. Mali vs. Burkina Faso Burkina Faso meets Group E winners Mali in an evenly matched encounter. Mali eyes redemption, while Burkina Faso, with a 2017 bronze medal, poses a formidable challenge.

8. Morocco vs. South Africa AFCON underachievers Morocco and South Africa clash. Morocco, seeking a trophy since 1976, is favored against South Africa, struggling for a second AFCON triumph in nearly three decades.

The Round of 16 fixtures kicks off on Saturday, January 27, and concludes on Tuesday, January 30.

The mouth-watering Africa Cup of Nations’ Round of 16 clash of Nigeria and Cameroon on Saturday triggers off a trilogy of intense rivalry of the two neighbouring countries.

They last met at the same stage in the 2019 edition in Egypt. After Saturday’s clash of the senior men’s teams, the senior women will again clash for final qualification for the 2024 Olympics women football event.

Just as the Super Eagles and the Cameroon Indomitable Lions are eternal rivals, so also are their women’s counterparts and both contested the final matches of WAFCON in 1991, 2004, 2014, 2015 and 2016.

The Nigerian women’s team will host their Cameroon counterparts on 19 February in the first leg. The match is the second football match pitching Nigeria and Cameroon together.

The trilogy will be completed with the second leg match of the Olympic qualifier in Cameroon on 28 February.

Beyond the rivalry on the football pitch, there is a boxing angle to it as Nigeria-British boxer will face Cameroon-French  professional mixed martial artist and professional boxer,  Francis Zavier Ngannou in Saudi Arabia on March 8

“We don’t care if we score 20 goals, the most important thing for us is the victory,” Nantes forward Simon said after collecting his award for man of the match.

The only goal of Monday’s encounter at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium in Abidjan came in the 36th minute, as a low cross by Simon was emphatically turned into his own net by defender Opa Sangante, who had Victor Osimhen lurking behind him.

The result took the Super Eagles through to the last 16 in second place in Group A with seven points, behind Equatorial Guinea whose 4-0 destruction of hosts Ivory Coast left them with a far better goal difference.

Nigeria’s domination had been sterile before the goal came, but they should have added to their lead after the break.

African player of the year Osimhen and substitute Zaidu Sanusi both had goals disallowed for offside in the second half, while Calvin Bassey had a penalty appeal turned down and Ola Aina blasted a good chance over.

“The main point is that we conceded no goals and we scored one. If we keep doing that we can reach the final,” insisted coach Jose Peseiro, whose team were the top scorers in qualifying for the tournament with 22 goals in six games.

Nigeria, who drew 1-1 with Equatorial Guinea in their opening game, have since been efficient if not spectacular, defeating the Ivorians 1-0 with a William Troost-Ekong penalty before this result.

“My responsibility is to choose the best way to win this competition. I chose another strategy and the players believe in it — to not concede goals because we will score at least one,” Peseiro said, pointing out that Senegal only scored once in the group stage at the 2022 AFCON before going on to win the trophy.

Peseiro’s team will now stay in Abidjan for a last-16 tie on Saturday against the runners-up in Group C, which will be Senegal, Guinea or Cameroon.

Franculino Dju had a goal ruled out for Guinea-Bissau, who were already eliminated before this game and finish with three defeats.

Shock winners away to Nigeria in qualifying last March, they have still never won a game in 12 attempts across four appearances at the Cup of Nations itself.

The Super Eagles have a tough test ahead of them in the knockout phase of the ongoing African Cup Of Nations.

The Nigerians, who are aiming for a fourth AFCON title in Cote d’Ivoire, are billed to face the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon in the Round of 16.

Both Nigeria and Cameroon finished as the runners-up in their groups with the Lions needing a thrilling 3-2 win over Gambia on Tuesday to leapfrog Guinea into second position.

The thrilling encounter between Nigeria and Cameroon will come up on Saturday at the FHB stadium in Abidjan.

It was Cameroon that denied Nigeria the AFCON trophy the last time Cote D’Ivoire hosted the Africa Cup of Nations 30 years ago.

Many wait to see if the Super Eagles will get an act of revenge against their fierce rivals or if the Lions will confirm their superiority over Nigeria

Already, Super Eagles midfielder Moses Simon who was named Man of the Match in the hard-fought 1-0 win against Guinea-Bissau has declared their readiness to embrace any challenge on their path to glory.

“We’re not losing sleep over who we’ll face next,” Simon confidently told reporters in Abidjan after the match. “We have no preference; we have to be ready for all opposition if we want to win the title. Any team we draw, we’re ready for them and everyone else.”

Heavyweights were demystified, and a surety is that at least three teams ranked outside the top 10 will be in the quarterfinals.

The 36 games in the group phase came to a close on Wednesday, 25 January, and it was a season of heavyweight knockdowns, a host in qualification jeopardy, another black day in Ghana’s football history, and the malaise of the North African teams.

The 36 group encounters produced 89 goals, and there were no scoreless results until the last group phase games. An average of 2.47 goals per game is an excellent output, considering the heat and low humidity in Cote d’Ivoire.

The group phase resulted in five coaches losing or resigning their jobs. The most high-profile were the coaches of Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire; Chris Hughton and Jean-Louis Gasset were dismissed, while Tam Sainfiet, Djamel Belmadi, and Jalel Kadri of The Gambia, Algeria, and Tunisia, respectively, resigned from their posts.

The fixtures for the round of 16 are also mouth-watering, and the excitement levels will continue to rise as the teams are whittled down.

Heavyweights are knocked out

Five-time winners Ghana collapsed at the last minute against Mozambique and crashed out. The highest margin of defeat honour went to the hosts, Cote d’Ivoire and Namibia, while former champions, Algeria and Tunisia, had the ignominy of finishing bottom of their groups.

Of all the famed No. 9s at the tournament, it is 34-year-old Emiliano Nsue from Equatorial Guinea who leads the scorers’ chart with five goals. Nsue, who is registered as a midfielder and sometimes plays as a right-back for Spanish third-division side CF Intercity, also scored the first hat-trick in the tournament since Soufiane Alloudi against Namibia in 2008.

North Africans feel heat

Four North African teams came to the 2023 AFCON, and all are in the top five African teams, but two fell abysmally at the group stage, while the Pharaohs of Egypt (5) went through to the round of 16 with three points, garnered from three draws.

Effectively, what has taken the Egyptians through is Mohamed Salah’s 97th-minute penalty against Mozambique on Matchday 1.

Algeria (4), the 2019 champions, came last in Group D with two points, and they were beaten by the 22nd-ranked Mauritania, the first-ever AFCON tournament win for the islanders. Tunisia (3) also came last in their group, losing to Namibia (27) on Matchday 1.

Morocco (1) are still the firm favourites and have confirmed their status with two wins and a draw in Group E. Hakim Ziyech is the unlikely toast of Cote d’Ivoire because he scored the only goal of the game against Zambia, which instigated the Elephants’ qualification to the round of 16.

Minnows are having their day in sun

Who would have bet on both Equatorial Guinea and Cape Verde as group winners? Who would have thought that the likes of Mauritania and Namibia, best known for holidays, would upset the apple cart and send the horses scampering? AFCON 2023 has been littered with exciting and surprising moments, and the prayer is for it to continue into the more cautious knockout rounds.

Round of 16 fixtures

Nigeria (6) vs. Cameroon (7)

Namibia (27) vs. Angola (28)

Mali (6) vs. Burkina Faso (10)

Senegal (2) vs. Cote d’Ivoire (8)

Morocco (1) vs. South Africa (12)

Emerse Faé, a former Ivorian midfielder will lead the Elephants in the knockout stages as they now have another chance to continue their fight for a third AFCON title.

The streets of Abidjan were the scene of wild celebrations on Wednesday night following the surprise qualification of the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire for the Round of 16 at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations.

Both the old, young, male and female thronged the streets chanting and expressing joy at the new development.

After their shocking group stage collapse, culminating in a humiliating 4-0 defeat to Equatorial Guinea, the odds were stacked against the hosts.

Their fate didn’t lie in their own hands, resting precariously on the outcome of other matches.

But Morocco did the Elephants a huge favour by beating Zambia 1-0 in San Pedro, making the impossible possible. Cote d’Ivoire are now in the knockout phase as one of the best four third-placed teams.

Before the lucky qualification, the Ivorien Football Federation (FIF) earlier on Wednesday released an official statement saying they had terminated the contract of 70-year-old French coach Jean-Louis Gasset and his assistant Ghislain Printant.

Gasset, who has coached for more than 35 years in France and Spain, took over in Cote d’Ivoire from Patrice Beaumelle in May 2022.

The drastic move by the AFCON hosts comes on the heels of a similar decision by the Ghana Football Federation who have also relieved Chris Hughton of his role as Black Stars’ coach after a poor outing in Cote d’Ivoire

Emerse Faé, a former Ivorian midfielder will now lead the Elephants through the knockout stages as they now have another chance to continue their fight for a third AFCON title.

Africa Cup of Nations hosts Ivory Coast fired coach Jean-Louis Gasset on Wednesday after their humiliating loss to Equatorial Guinea, which left them unsure of whether they will qualify for the next round, the country’s football federation said.

The 4-0 loss to the small central African country on Monday was the heaviest defeat suffered by a Cup of Nations host and left the Ivorians third in Group A, waiting to see whether they might qualify as one of four best third-placed finishers.

A statement said the 70-year-old Gasset was fired for “insufficient results” and would be replaced by Emerse Fae as interim coach.

Ivory Coast will know their fate later on Wednesday when the last group matches are completed, but are dependent on other results going their way after collecting only three points in their Group A matches, beating Guinea Bissau in the opening game but then losing to Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea.

Gasset took over as coach in May 2022 and won 10 of 17 matches in charge, with three draws and four defeats.

He had shaken up the team ahead of the finals, leaving out Eric Bailly and Wilfred Zaha for the tournament, where there was a burden of expectation on the hosts.

They started well against Guinea Bissau with a goal in the first five minutes but were stymied by a strong Nigerian defence and fell apart against Equatorial Guinea in what Gasset said afterwards had been a nightmare.

“In life, there are sometimes matches that turn into nightmares, matches where everything seems linked. We call this the disaster scenario,” he said.

He added he could not fathom what went wrong.

“This is a difficult question. What went wrong with the players? I don’t think is their state of mind. When I see players crying in the locker room, it hurts me. The players tried. I think we’ve tried everything,” he said.

“When you have a scenario like this, which borders on a nightmare, there is not much to say or do.”

It was the Frenchman’s first job as a national team coach, although he served as Laurent Blanc’s assistant for two years with the French national side after the 2010 World Cup.

Most of Gasset’s coaching career has been spent in the French league with Montpellier, Saint Etienne and Girondins Bordeaux. He also had two separate spells on the coaching staff at Paris St Germain.

He is the fourth managerial casualty in less than 24 hours at the tournament.

Tunisia coach, Jalel Kadri, announced he was stepping down after his side’s disappointing group exit from the Africa Cup of Nations.

He joins the coaches of hosts, Ivory Coast, Ghana and Algeria to leave their posts on Wednesday.

Kadri announced his decision in the aftermath of the Carthage Eagles’ goalless draw with South Africa, which confirmed the end of their AFCON participation.

“My decision is definite. My contract fixed as an objective the semi-finals and because we haven’t made that the contract is over,” he said in a post-match interview on television.

Tunisia leave the Ivory Coast without a single win to their name to leave them last in Group E – a far cry from 13 months ago when they toppled France 1-0 at the World Cup in Qatar.

Tunisia’s 100th goal in the competition, scored by Hamza Rafia in the 1-1 draw with Mali, was their only goal of this AFCON.

Africa Cup of Nations last-16 pairings in the Ivory Coast (all times GMT):

Saturday
In Bouake
Angola v Namibia (1700)
In Abidjan
Nigeria v Cameroon (2000)

Sunday
In Abidjan
Equatorial Guinea v Guinea (1700)
In San Pedro
Egypt v Democratic Republic of Congo (2000)

Monday
In Abidjan
Cape Verde v Mauritania (1700)
In Yamoussoukro
Senegal v Ivory Coast (2000)

Tuesday
In Korhogo
Mali v Burkina Faso (1700)
In San Pedro
Morocco v South Africa (2000)